WordPress utilizes a robust system of template files to dynamically display content, and when it comes to blog posts and related content, the “Post” post type takes center stage. Essentially, any content you associate with your blog or individual posts falls under this post type. To effectively customize how this content is presented, understanding the PHP template files that govern “Post” display is crucial.
Index.php
The index.php file is the foundational template in any WordPress theme. It’s the fallback template, meaning if WordPress can’t find a more specific template file to display content, it will default to index.php. For displaying “Post” post types, index.php will be used if no other templates are defined to handle post-related content. In fact, every valid WordPress theme must have an index.php file.
For very basic themes, index.php might be the only template needed to display blog posts. However, for any website aiming for a tailored user experience and content presentation, relying solely on index.php is often insufficient. You’ll likely want more specialized templates to control the layout and structure based on the context of the content being displayed. This is where templates like home.php and single.php become essential.
Home.php
When you set a static front page for your WordPress site and designate a separate page to display your blog posts, the home.php template comes into play. This template is specifically used for that designated blog posts page. It’s best practice to use home.php for this purpose rather than creating a custom page template because home.php is inherently designed to handle blog pagination correctly. Custom page templates can encounter issues with pagination on blog post listings. If a theme doesn’t include a home.php file, WordPress will again fall back to using index.php to display the blog posts page.
Single.php
While simplicity in template structure is generally a good approach, single.php is a template that most WordPress themes should include. single.php is designed to display individual blog posts. Theme developers often skip creating a single-post.php because single.php itself is already specific enough for most needs. It provides the template for displaying a single, standalone post, offering a focused reading experience.
Below is a typical example of a single.php file, similar to what you might find in the Twenty Fifteen theme:
<?php
/**
* The template for displaying all single posts and attachments
*
* @package WordPress
* @subpackage Twenty_Fifteen
* @since Twenty Fifteen 1.0
*/
get_header(); ?>
<div id="primary" class="content-area">
<main id="main" class="site-main" role="main">
<?php
// Start the loop.
while ( have_posts() ) : the_post();
/*
* Include the post format-specific template for the content.
* If you want to use this in a child theme, then include a file
* called content-___.php (where ___ is the post format) and that will be used instead.
*/
get_template_part( 'content', get_post_format() );
// If comments are open or we have at least one comment, load up the comment template.
if ( comments_open() || get_comments_number() ) :
comments_template();
endif;
the_post_navigation( array(
'next_text' => '<span class="meta-nav" aria-hidden="true">' . __( 'Next', 'twentyfifteen' ) . '</span> ' .
'<span class="screen-reader-text">' . __( 'Next post:', 'twentyfifteen' ) . '</span> ' .
'<span class="post-title">%title</span>',
'prev_text' => '<span class="meta-nav" aria-hidden="true">' . __( 'Previous', 'twentyfifteen' ) . '</span> ' .
'<span class="screen-reader-text">' . __( 'Previous post:', 'twentyfifteen' ) . '</span> ' .
'<span class="post-title">%title</span>',
) );
// End the loop.
endwhile;
?>
</main><!-- .site-main -->
</div><!-- .content-area -->
<?php get_sidebar(); ?>
<?php get_footer(); ?>Looking at this code, you can see the standard WordPress structure. get_header() brings in the header content. The code then sets up the main content area. The heart of WordPress content display, The Loop, begins, iterating through posts. get_template_part( 'content', get_post_format() ); is a crucial template tag that dynamically includes content based on the post format. This allows for different presentations for various post formats (like standard, aside, image, video, etc.). Next, comments_template() loads the comments section if comments are enabled. the_post_navigation() adds pagination for navigating between single posts. Finally, the content area closes, and get_footer() includes the footer.
Singular.php
Introduced in WordPress 4.3, singular.php adds another layer of template specificity. It sits in the template hierarchy after single.php (for posts) and page.php (for pages), as well as their variations. singular.php is used whenever a single post or page is being displayed, regardless of the specific post type, as determined by the is_singular() function.
The beauty of singular.php is in its ability to simplify themes. If a theme previously used identical code for single.php and page.php (or included one within the other), developers could consolidate that shared code into singular.php, making the theme structure more streamlined and maintainable.
Archive.php
The archive.php template comes into play when displaying lists of posts based on metadata, but only if the theme’s templates are built to utilize permalinks that incorporate this metadata. Metadata refers to information associated with a post, such as the publication date, author, categories, tags, or taxonomies.
When a website visitor clicks on a piece of metadata (like an author’s name or a category link), WordPress uses archive.php to render a page listing all posts associated with that metadata. For example, clicking on an author’s name would trigger archive.php to display all posts written by that author.
Typically, the title of an archive page generated by archive.php reflects the metadata being displayed. So, if a user clicks on an author’s name, the archive page title would be the author’s name, often accompanied by a brief description related to that metadata.
The key difference between archive.php and templates like home.php or index.php often lies in how the page title and potentially the introductory content are handled. Here’s a snippet from Twenty Fifteen’s archive.php that highlights this distinction:
<?php if ( have_posts() ) : ?>
<header class="page-header">
<?php
the_archive_title( '<h1 class="page-title">', '</h1>' );
the_archive_description( '<div class="taxonomy-description">', '</div>' );
?>
</header><!-- .page-header -->
<?php
// Start the loop.
while ( have_posts() ) : the_post();
/*
* Include the Post-Format-specific template for the content.
* If you want to use this in a child theme, then include a file
* called content-___.php (where ___ is the Post Format) and that will be used instead.
*/
get_template_part( 'content', get_post_format() );
// End the loop.
endwhile;
// Previous/next page navigation.
the_posts_navigation();
else :
// If no content, include the "no posts found" template.
get_template_part( 'content', 'none' );
endif;
?>This snippet demonstrates how archive.php often includes the_archive_title() and the_archive_description() to dynamically generate the archive page’s header based on the context (author, category, etc.), setting it apart from more generic templates.
Author.php and Date.php
author.php and date.php are more specialized archive templates, offering finer control over archive displays. It’s helpful to revisit the template hierarchy to understand their specific placement. In many cases, archive.php is sufficient for most themes, and creating separate author.php or date.php templates might not be necessary unless you have specific design or functionality requirements.
Author.php
If you’re developing a theme for a website with multiple authors, author.php can be a valuable template to create. Instead of relying solely on archive.php for author archives, author.php allows you to craft a more detailed author page. You could include an author biography, their gravatar, links to their social media profiles, followed by a listing of their posts. This provides a richer presentation of author information compared to a standard archive.php output.
Furthermore, WordPress allows for even more granular control with author templates. You can create specific author.php files for individual authors using their author ID or nicename. For example, to create a unique author page for an author with the nicename “johndoe,” you could create author-johndoe.php. For an author with an ID of “3,” you could use author-3.php. WordPress will prioritize these more specific templates over the general author.php.
Date.php
Similarly, if you’re building a theme for news sites or online magazines where content is often organized and accessed by date, date.php becomes relevant. These types of sites often benefit from date-based archives. Additionally, for even finer date-based filtering, you could create day.php, month.php, or year.php templates if your site’s content structure and user needs justify them.
Category.php, Tag.php, and Taxonomy.php
To understand category.php, tag.php, and taxonomy.php, it’s essential to have a solid grasp of categories, tags, and taxonomies in WordPress. While often not essential for basic themes, these templates become powerful when you need to customize the display of category, tag, or custom taxonomy archives.
Consider a theme designed for food bloggers. Categories might include “Great Restaurants,” “Beautiful Food,” “Ethnic Cuisine,” and “Recipes.” For most blog posts, a standard layout might suffice. However, for posts categorized as “Recipes,” you might want a distinct presentation, perhaps a grid view with key recipe details like ingredients and preparation time prominently displayed. In this case, creating a category-recipe.php template would allow you to achieve this unique layout specifically for recipe category archives.
Similarly, tags can also trigger specialized templates. If “chocolate” is a particularly important tag in your food blog theme, you could create a tag-chocolate.php template. This could allow you to, for example, display a special banner image of chocolate at the top of the tag archive page for “chocolate,” enhancing the visual appeal and user experience for that specific tag.
Search.php
Most WordPress themes include a search.php template, and for good reason. It provides a dedicated template to display search results, making it clear to users that their search query has been processed and is presenting relevant content. A common practice in search.php is to include a header that clearly indicates the search query and results, as seen in this snippet from the Twenty Fifteen theme:
<header class="page-header">
<h1 class="page-title"><?php printf( __( 'Search Results for: %s', 'twentyfifteen' ), '<span>' . get_search_query() . '</span>' ); ?></h1>
</header><!-- .page-header -->This code snippet uses get_search_query() to retrieve the user’s search term and display it prominently in the page title. Often, search.php templates will also display post excerpts instead of full content in the search results list. This allows users to quickly scan results and determine if an article or page is relevant to their search before clicking through to the full content.
By understanding these various PHP template files and their roles in displaying “Post” post types, you gain significant control over the presentation of your blog and related content within your WordPress theme. Leveraging these templates effectively allows for a more tailored, user-friendly, and SEO-optimized website.
